our 2019 melanoma honoree, DARLENE'S HatCher

​Darlene Hatcher first noticed a mole that had increased in size, changed in color, and started to scab on her right upper abdomen in March of 1999 when she was 25 years old. Darlene was more concerned with the upcoming summer and swimsuit season than any health implications related to this mole. That’s why she went to have it removed, not for any concern of cancer. The dermatologist removed the suspicious mole at the initial visit and sent it off for a biopsy. She assured Darlene that this most likely nothing to worry about and so Darlene wasn’t worried. Four days later, Darlene came home to a message from the dermatologist to call her at her home number. Darlene of course knew immediately something was wrong and found out It was melanoma. The mole right on the edge between Stage 2 and Stage 3. She met with a surgeon and underwent surgery for a wide excision at the site of the melanoma in April 1999. The margins were clean and so the follow-up regimen began: blood work and scans for the next 9 years. Darlene also started her lifelong annual dermatology appointments for skin checks following the diagnosis. In 2010, at the conclusion of her follow-up process, Darlene had shown no signs of melanoma.Fast forward to July 2016. Darlene decided after living all 42 years of her life in Nebraska, she wanted to take a chance and move to Kansas City, with her two dogs. She was feeling adventurous moving to a new city where she did not know anyone. She secured a job teaching mathematics at a local college. She started meeting new people and was once again playing volleyball, golfing, running, and enjoying her new life in KC while going through a divorce but felt she was leaving that life behind. The semester schedule gave her the opportunity to take a trip to Australiawhich fueled her desire to see more of the world.Just over a year after her move, July 17, 2017, Darlene noticed a lump under her right armpit. With a family history of breast cancer, Darlene knew she should not wait around to have her findings evaluated.it. She was feeling great and had been healthy for years and felt no reason for alarm. Then she read the line in her medical record: “The core specimens obtained appear grossly pigmented, suspicious for involvement by metastatic melanoma. Now she was scared. The next day the gynecologist called with the results – metastatic melanoma. Darlene was devastated. She didn’t understand how this could be as she had seen the dermatologist the summer before she left Omaha and she had not noticed any new moles during the previous year. She distinctly recalled what her first melanoma looked like and she was certain there had not been any lesions like this on her skin. It would be at her first appointment with the dermatologist in Kansas that Darlene learned that her immune system most likely attacked the second primary melanoma before she would have had a chance to see it on her skin; however, not before the cells had migrated to her lymphatic system.

Darlene was concerned wondering if the cancer had spread beyond the lymph nodes. Several weeks passed and Darlene could not seem to find a melanoma specialist that could get her in. Some did not return calls.The frustration of getting a metastatic cancer diagnosis and then hearing nothing for days was mounting. A friend stepped in who had a connection at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis and Darlene was immediately scheduled at Siteman on Monday, July 24, 2017 for a brain MRI, PET scan, and a pre-op evaluation. The good news was the cancer was isolated to her lymph nodes. Fortunately, Siteman had recently been selected as a location for a trial and Darlene was a candidate. So Darlene drove back and forth every other week for her cancer treatments.Darlene is continuing her participation in the clinical trial, however, she is in the follow-up stage and is now able to schedule her remaining appointments in Kansas. She continues treatment and follow up for additional years. The diagnosis has pushed Darlene to pursue some of her dreams. She traveled to Italy for two weeks between treatments in May 2018 and to Hawaii in January 2019. Darlene knows she was fortunate to get 18 years between melanoma diagnoses and that tomorrow is not a guarantee. She plans to travel as much as possible as well as spend time with family, friends and her two dogs. ​